FT.... my 0.02

Or 0.04, if you know how I tend to ramble.

But it's Canadian, so that's aboout 0.02 "real
money" .....

FT for my money is an easy to learn, fast to play game. This is both virtue
and drawback. Too many (most) of the FT games I've played in
have resembled massed end-end cavalry
charges. Jousting with lasers. Not a _lot_ of
tactics in them. FT doesn't have the fine granularity of tactical decision
present in SFB or
in a number of other single-ship focused (yes,
people played SFB with 3000 BPV fleets - me
too - but it shone with single ship
engagements, something that FT kinda sucks for) games. FT has a pretty decent
(as of FB) point system for most things (some aliens notwithstanding in FB2).
But if you enjoy the tactical complexities and decision of ground warfare,
playing on the black mat of space where no one can hide or take cover gets
kinda dull. Yes, before anyone rants on, this can be fixed with cool scenario
planning. But all too often people either don't bother or don't know enough.
FT is a tinkerer's dream (as, to an extent, is DS2). But it isn't (in its raw
fleet on fleet format) the most tactically interesting game.

SG2, on the other hand, tends to (even with platoon on platoon clashes) offer
more tactical options due to the command transfer mechanics, due to the range
of weapons in the game, and due to the terrain factors which really really
change how a battle is fought. Although its downfall is (to some) that it has
no points system and can be a bear for newbies to
balance scenarios with. Of course, list-advice
can ameliorate that evil. I _like_ the lack of a
points system - it tends to force you to think in
terms of "what makes sense in this situation?" rather than "what can I do to
spend those remaining 32 points?".

And, I have to HEARTILY disagree with Mr.Engineer (Stay on the ground pal!
Your MOS isn't space qualified yet....). He claims that vector is hard....
quite frankly I find the basic cinematic damn near impossible to navigate
successfully. In vector, I always know pretty much where I'll end up and where
the enemy could end up (the locus of possible locations). Can't seem to manage
the same in cinematic... makes the game far too unpredictable (in that I
have usually no idea where _MY_ fleet will end
up, let alone his). Of course, in point of fact, some people may point out
this may address
part of my tactics comment earlier - vector
allows more rotation, so getting flanked takes poor choices or a damn good
opponent. In cinematic, this is much easier to achieve. out of arc experiences
are more common. OTOH, I'm not really interested in the complexity being
"where does my ship end up" but rather in "why would I want it to end up
there". So I still think FT is weaker than SG. (Faster to setup and cleanup,
and fun with a good scenario, albeit).

So, vector or cinematic - how easy or hard you
find it has a lot to do with how your brain works. I taught (in one game) a
bunch of history majors (can't do real math to save their behinds) vector, and
they refuse to play
cinematic anymore. So it can't be _that_ hard...

<Maybe the drift + limited manouvre might
overtake an Engineer brain though eh John?
*wink* -- since it only knows things like how
much C4 to put in the sarcastic listers' Lazy-boy
to give him a good *bang*!>

Heh. And as for your comments about why
there are so many Scots split offs - someone
beat me to the comment about all Scots colonies being splinters. But the other
truth is that deep down, everyone who has even a bit of Scots or Irish in
their blood is proud of it and wants (a bit) to be there in the Glens. So the
Keltoi-offshoot colonies basically reflect that
natural desire. I mean, you don't see many split of English colonies now do
you?:)

And your idea of Basques ain't bad, but I'm already harvesting them, the
Quebecois, some French coastal fishermen, and a few French
Colonials to populate the canon-mentioned but
little detailed NFR (New French Republic) - built
in separatist tendencies! Vive La Republic Nouvelle de La Francaise! (Pardon
my execrable Franglish).

On or about Fri, Nov 02, 2001 at 03:49:51AM -0500, Thomas Barclay typed:

> FT for my money is an easy to learn, fast to

Hmm. I think this is an inevitable decision: FT, for my money, runs a lot more
smoothly when there are large fleets around than SFB ever did (and I once
played quite a bit of it). True, a lot of stuff is abstracted; but I still
find that there are a lot of decisions to be made. (Mostly, I think, games are
won and lost in the manoeuvre plotting
phase...)

> But if you enjoy the

The battle makes its own "terrain", which is different for each unit. My
fighter flight doesn't want to go too near that CE, but the strikeboats will
try to get in and out before his SDNs can come up to range... do I bunch up
for concentration of firepower, spread out to
avoid plasma bolts, and/or stick some tin cans out front to attract
missile salvoes?

I agree that FT with few ships can be fairly uninspiring; but it seems to me
that it's designed as a game for fleet actions, and that's where it shines.

> So, vector or cinematic - how easy or hard you

Have you written this up as a tutorial? I like vector, but a lot of the people
with whom I play don't... yet...

> --- Thomas Barclay <kaladorn@fox.nstn.ca> wrote:

> And, I have to HEARTILY disagree with Mr.

No, I said it takes getting used to. I'm pretty damn good at it now. But every
time I play someone who's not used to thinking in those terms, the first game
I manage to get behind them with all their ships pointed in the wrong way and
spend a turn taking free shots at under 6". It's because they have played one
of the "other" space combat games and think in aircraft
terms--or they spent all their time watching Star Wars
and Star Trek and think ships bank.

> <Maybe the drift + limited manouvre might

50 lbs. Take his whole house with him.

> Heh. And as for your comments about why

Nope.  I'm 1/4 Welsh and part-Irish on both sides of
the family.  And what do I run?  Greek-Armenian
halfbreeds.

> Tomb wrote:
----------
And your idea of Basques ain't bad, but I'm already harvesting them, the
Quebecois, some French coastal fishermen, and a few French
Colonials to populate the canon-mentioned but
little detailed NFR (New French Republic) - built
in separatist tendencies! Vive La Republic Nouvelle de La Francaise! (Pardon
my execrable Franglish).

Hi as a resident of Cataluña in northern spain, my experience of the basque
separatists is that the likelyhood of the Basques forming an alliance with a
French republic is about as strong as a ben laden standing for president of
the USA!!!
[quoted original message omitted]

That's what I thought. Thanks. Maybe I can negotiate with Tomb for him to not
include the Basques in his new nation, and I'll use them. We'll see. I'm still
back to the drawing board.

Brian

"The Irish are the only race of people on Earth for which psychoanalysis is of
no use."

                                 - S. Freud

> From: "Bob DeAngelis" <bobdea@terra.es>

> They

> too - but it shone with single ship

well, depends on what ships you've got.  Limit them to 1-arc weapons
and make them Thrust 6 or so and you can have a good time.

> isn't space qualified yet....). He claims that

Vector is easy. Not as interesting, but easy (not to mention more realistic).